καί

Forms

καί (kaí) ^[1] Cypriot and Arcadian (Mantinea) κάς (kás), also κά (ká) with the weak final sigma lost.^[2][3] It is not attested in Mycenaean.^[2]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.^[2][3] Wiktionary derives it from Proto-Hellenic *kahi, earlier Proto-Hellenic *kasi, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥t-, a form of Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“with”), and compares Hittite 𒃰𒋾 (katti, “along with”).^[1] Chantraine reports Ruijgh's analysis of it as a form in /-si/ from /-ti/, like dialectal ποσί (posí) beside ποτί (potí), which is also how the Cypriot and Arcadian κάς (kás) would be explained.^[2] Some connect it with an Indo-European *kosi- (“together”), the first part of κασίγνητος (kasígnētos, “brother”).^[4]

Older proposals compare Old Church Slavonic цѣ (cě, “although”), Latin ceu (“just as”) and Latin cēterī (“the others”).^[3][4] Babiniotis finds none of them well founded.^[4] Schwyzer and Debrunner even considered a pre-Greek origin.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is used from Homer on, both as a conjunction, “and”, and as an adverb, “also, even”.^[5][6] The first line of the Iliad that has it is the seventh.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Chantraine describes it as an emphatic particle meaning “moreover, precisely” that became a connective, marking an addition more strongly than the older τε (te).^[2] It is the commonest word of Greek: GLAUx counts almost a million examples, from Homer to late antiquity.^[7] With other particles it formed set combinations, such as καίτοι (kaítoi, “and yet”), and καίπερ (kaíper, “although”).^[5][6]

In the New Testament it is more frequent than in other Greek, and often in different circumstances, as in narrative series where each new clause opens with καί, which gives the style much of its colour.^[8] It survived while τε disappeared: medieval and Modern Greek have και (kai), with the medieval form κι before vowels, where the vowel was lost and the /k/ became palatal.^{[2][9][10][4]} It also continues as Tsakonian τσαι (tsai), and Coptic borrowed it.^[1]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it as “and” and as “also, even”.^[5][6][7]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it far more often than other Greek, often to open each clause of a narrative.^[8]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular medieval Greek has και (kai), with all its ancient uses.^[9]
• Modern Greek – και (kai) (κι before vowels) is the ordinary word for “and”.^[10][4]

Meanings

Conjunction

1. and, joining words or clauses; καὶ ... καί, “both ... and”.^[5][6]
2. After words of likeness or sameness: as, than (“the same as”).^[6][5]

Adverb

1. also, too, even.^[5][6]
2. (emphatic) Actually, in fact, indeed.^[6][5]
3. (intensifying, with adverbs and adjectives of quantity) Very, quite: καὶ μάλα, “very much indeed”.^[6][5]

Word family

• κἄν (kā́n)
• καίτοι (kaítoi)
• καίπερ (kaíper)

Usage notes

In Homer καί νύ κε, “and now ... would have”, introduces what would have happened had something not intervened, and καί ῥα, “and so”, marks a transition.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
3. ^ a b c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b c d e Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
9. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki